Slow Burn
by Newbornson
Summary: It's been 21 years after Sarah's victory. Her life starts to fall apart when a surprise nabs her attention while looking through an antique store: The Labyrinth 2. A name and pro have been changededited.
1. Prologue

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Prologue

A thirty four year old woman glanced at herself in the mirror. Her fingers came up and delicately and lovingly, brushed the small crows' feet gracing the sides of her eyes. She let out a small sigh and uncapped a tube of lipstick the color of a soft pink rose.

Today was a special day. Eleven years to the day was their wedding. A corner of the soft pink lips lifted up in a half smile. It was this day eleven years ago that Sarah Williams became Sarah Gwynne. Sarah put the tube of lipstick down and gently touched her wedding ring before lifting up a black eyeliner.

Sarah had just gotten back from the University of Etton, where she worked as the Professor of Creative Writing. Sarah smiled into the mirror as she went to line her other eye. She had found the love of writing after her trip; she also found that her love of writing was stronger than that of the call of the stage, though occasionally the stage called her back. It was a good thing that not only did she major in Creative Writing with a Drama minor, but also that wonderful major was a wonderful setup for a career in theatre.

Everything had turned out perfect for Sarah. Not only did she have the love of her life as her husband, but she also had two young boys with him and a career she absolutely adored. She had everything that she dreamed of, except the fame a glory of being a Broadway Diva, but she had grown out of that the moment she saw Toby asleep in his crib. In fact, a new dream had been brought forth at that very moment in time. A dream to become a mother.

It was in the last year of high school that she met Matthew, her husband. He was the perfect vision of prince charming, with wispy fair blonde locks and beautiful sea blue eyes. Three years after they met, they married, six years after that they had their first child, Liam, and two years ago, they had their second child, Thane.

Sarah sat still, examining her reflection closely. It was so rare that they went out, considering Liam was in school and the domestic chaotic ruler who answers to the name of Thane. Tonight she was determined to look perfect for her husband, who, unfortunately, was still at work. He too was a Professor, but of Physics. Sarah grimaced slightly, while she did have a strong interest in Physics, she didn't know a quarter as much as he did, and when he tried to help her along, she would always be in the dust. It was then that she had a sudden feeling of pity for Wile-E-Coyote.

As Sarah sat examining herself, she started to cross off her mental list of looks. Hair was like art, with large loose curls framing her strong face. Make-up strategically placed to bring out the best of her features, dark colors of purple black and green creating a smoldering smoky look around her eyes, causing the dark green to shine brightly. Soft pink lipstick to make her lips look kissable and a one of a kind soft colored blush to bring out her smile.

Teeth were brushed, flossed and pearly white accompanied with a mint fresh breath. Over all smell was a dab of Jasmine and Roses, barely noticeable unless a soft breeze went by or in close proximity. Nails were clear and in proper shape, skin was a soft and smooth as her baby's bottom. Last was the knockout dress of black silk that flowed to her knees. It was simple and plain, the neck line high and loose, almost brushing her throat with it's slightly excessive materiel loosely bunch together. There were no sleeves to the dress and the back dipped nicely with the same excessive materiel framing the peek of her back that showed her creamy skin from neck to mid back.

Sarah stood up from the vanity and smoothed her dress for a moment before turning around and walking out of the bedroom she shared with her husband. She softly shut the door and calmly went down the stairs to see her two children sitting; watching the cartoon series her husband blamed her for hooking them on: Teen Titans. She rather enjoyed the show and their children always sat quietly when it was on, their eyes transfixed by the artwork.

She quietly slipped by them, spotting the baby sitter sitting on the love seat, studying her homework Sarah sat down next to her and waited for her husband to come home from work, which should be in about fifteen minutes. He, she thought quietly as she watched Starfire from the T.V. show punch a pink limousine, could change relatively fast in the classroom, while she had to spend two hours in front of a mirror.

She snapped out of her reverie as her children giggled at the funny face of Starfire mutating her mouth, which had fallen off, and giving a T-Rex roar to a prom couple.

-----

Sarah sighed and fidgeted with the hem of her dress. She stole a glance at the clock on the wall to her right. Three a.m. it said. She got up and paced, a cup of coffee nestled in her hands. She took a cautious sip, completely ignorant of the fact that it was stone cold. She placed it on the mantel of the fireplace as she paced it and turned around to pace back towards the wall holding the clock. She crossed her arms and started to bite her lower lip. She glanced at the clock again: Three a.m. the hands pointed She sighed again and turned towards the other direction, picking up the cold coffee on her way past the fireplace. Sarah took another sip of it and, on her way towards the wall, placed it on the light wood coffee table.

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Three-o-one a.m.

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Her brow furrowed as she rubbed at it in frustration and worry. She had called Matthew's cell phone, no answer. She figured that maybe the battery was dead. She had waited for an hour after the time he was supposed to be home, listening for the phone to ring or the door to open as she read to their children before bed. Sarah had dismissed the baby-sitter, telling her that she would call her if needed. Then thirty minutes after she put the children to bed and tried to call his cell phone again; no answer. With her nerves on edge, Sarah had called his friends and had received the same answer, not one peep from him since that afternoon.

Sarah had been reduced to biting her manicured nails by ten 'o'clock, her mind thinking of scenarios that became worse with each passing minute. After a thought of him dying horribly, she wrenched out the phone book from under the table and started a process of finding hospitals and dialing their numbers. Not one held Matthew Gwynne. Frustration and fear brought rivers of tears to her eyes as the thought of finding her husband lying in a gutter somewhere kept replaying repeatedly in her mind. Sarah thought about phoning the police and almost had the number dialed when she thought that they would've called her if they found her husband somewhere.

'But that doesn't mean that they won't' her mind had said to her.

That's when she made herself a batch of horribly made coffee and sat down, waiting for the front door to open, it was eleven by then.

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Sarah looked up at the clock again, frustrated that only thirty seconds went by. By now they should've either still be out celebrating their eleventh wedding anniversary or be home either asleep or cuddled on the couch watching a movie or something.

Her hair, which had been set to cascade in rivers of luscious curls, was now hanging with frazzled limpness around her face. Her make-up was smudged to almost non-existence and the black dress that was her favorite was wrinkled and harassed beyond possible repair. She had long ago abandoned her two-inch heels in favor of bare feet.

She sat down on the edge of the coffee table, propped her elbows on her knees and let her head fall in her hands. Visions of her husbands' body mangled, bloody and bruised lying lifelessly in a dark alleyway or in the gutter filled her mind. They were, after all, living in Manhattan. Maybe he was robbed for five measly dollars or hit by a car or maybe got caught in a gang war, looking for a quicker way to get home. She let her fingers entwine with her thick mussed hair, tears slowly dropped from her eyes to the floor, as she thought. She turned her head to the left, her hands still in her hair and looked at the clock.

Three 'o' five a.m. it said.

The front door opened in time for Sarah to glance at it. In it came a harassed looking Matthew. Sarah quickly launched herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, crying and thanking God for keeping him safe.

She wanted to tell him what all went through her head, how worried she had been, how thankful she was that he was all right but couldn't.

"Shh, it's alright. Everything's alright." Matthew said in a whisper as he stroked his wife's hair.

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Eh, I hope this updated version is to your liking, oh great reviewers.

Trivia: Jennifer Connelly is actually **_very_** interested in Physics and was majoring in it for a year before she switched to English. She studied at Yale for two years before transferring to Standford (smart girl). She was 26 years old when she had her first child, whom she planned on naming Liam, but due to his exotic looks, dubbed him Kai. Her second child was born in August of 2003, her at the age of 32, and dubbed him Stellan, after the Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgå rd, who is close friends with her husband, Paul Bettany. Her father-in-law is Thane Bettany, an actor. Her husband comes from a theatre family. Her husband has a sister named Sarah. His grandmother's maiden and stage name was Olga Gwynne. His brother, Matthew, died at age 8, (May he be in peace).

So that is how a create personal background. I snatch it from the original mold's persona. Heheh.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Sarah sighed as she walked up and down the aisles of the grocery store. She hated grocery shopping. She hated shopping in general, except when it was buying presents. Her back was killing her and she was tired. She groaned and rubbed her lower back as she looked at the price of milk. The cost for a gallon of two percent was just too much, and it said sell by May 23rd, it was in the middle of June. She rubbed her forehead and sighed as Thane bounced like a monkey on acid in the cart, crying because he wanted out.

"Please sit down Stellan," she said quietly as she grabbed two loaves of bread and placed them in the cart, adding to the small pile.

"Mumma." Stellan cried repeatedly, large tears streaming down his red face. Sarah gave a small smile and held the cart with her left foot as she picked up her son. Liam grabbed hold of the cart's handle and started following his mother and now sedated brother as they went down another aisle.

Sarah rested her head on her son's shoulder and balanced him with one arm as she grabbed a jar of peanut butter from the shelf.

"Mommy, are we almost done?" Liam asked as he watched his mother's hand place the peanut butter in the cart.

"Almost." she said and walked over to the canned chili, grabbing a few of those. After she hunted down yogurt, olives, and steaks and raided the deli in the plastic container section, she went to pay her groceries. It was costly; enough to make her eyeballs pop out of her head. She decided that she was fortunate that her car, an Insight, not only got better than good gas mileage, but that she filled it up yesterday when the average gas price was 2.13.

After placing the groceries in the trunk and wrestling Stellan from her arms and into the car seat, Sarah drove out of the parking garage and let her sights gaze on rush hour traffic. She almost bashed her head into the steering wheel for her stupidity. She wasn't thinking straight today, considering earlier this morning when Matthew came home at three 'o' five in the morning and kept quiet about what kept him busy, though she didn't pry for it considering she was tired and relieved to find him alive.

She was also relieved when she awoke this afternoon to find that it was a Saturday. No classes. She almost danced to that, but they were low on food, given light that not only was she hungry, but so was everyone else... and they all looked at her to fix lunch. She was going to leave the children with Matthew, but found that wouldn't work considering that Matthew was working on essays and the children demanded to come with her.

She sure felt loved.

Right now, she was glaring at the cab in front of her just barely over her steering wheel, watching its brake lights come on every five seconds. Sarah raised her head up and sighed, glancing at her left before returning her gaze to the offending yellow of the cab. She hated yellow.

"Mommy, look." Liam said as he tugged on her shirts bottom.

"Hmm."

Liam pointed in front of him a little ways to a building on his side.

"I can't see it baby. Tell me what it is." she said as she took up a bottle of water and sipped at it. It was too hot out today and, as luck would have it, the air conditioner didn't work. Thankfully, Sarah took off Stellans' shirt before she buckled him in, otherwise he would've been screaming at the top of his lungs and sweating like a pig. She glanced back at him and saw that he was napping.

'Great.' she thought before she turned her attention back to Liam.

"It's a, um, a…" Liam looked at it with narrowed eyes, raising his head to look over a mini cooper's hood. Sarah almost smacked herself; she forgot to pick up his glasses.

"Ant… Anti…Anti-cue." Liam stuttered out as his dark eyes squinted even more, his curly hair brushing his eyebrows.

"Antique." Sarah said as she came within viewing range of it. "That's new, I thought a bookstore use to be there," she said as she pulled up a little more.

"What's uh antique mommy?" Liam asked, turning his big doe eyes to look at her.

"Well," Sarah paused and blinked a few times before pulling up a little more behind the offending yellow cab. "Well, it's something that's really old" Sarah said.

"You mean like an old person in those homes you tell me about?"

"No." Sarah said with a smile and chuckle. "They're everyday things, like toys, dresses, shoes, books. But they're old. Maybe some of them were made in 1880, or some might've been made in 1950. Something that's now considered out of date and is very valued because of it's age."

"Why are there stores with them in it?"

"Well, some people like to collect things from the past."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Liam was silent for a moment as he looked back at the store, which they were almost in front of by now. Liam's eyes lightened up as he saw a necklace in the display window sparkle and wink at him as the sun hit it. He knew his mother's birthday was a ways off, but he didn't know what to get her. The necklace would be perfect for her. It was elegant, simple, dainty and old, just like mom.

"Can we go there?" he innocently asked her as they moved a little ways up, the shop being blocked by a neighboring cabs' driver.

"Maybe." Sarah said and shrugged her shoulders. "How about tomorrow?" she asked and saw Liam's face lighten up as his head nodded at incredible speeds.

"Okay." Sarah said with a laugh and flashed him a bright smile as she moved up a little bit more.

Liam looked back at the necklace and practically drooled, it was perfect, and it shined just as she did. Liam continued to watch it as his mother pulled up a little more, marveling as the winking light changed from white to a light shade of purple. A car's windshield frame moved into his view, blocking the winking jewel. The cab moved up a little more, revealing the necklace again. Liam started wondering how he could get it when a hand shot out from the purple depths of the shops windows and grabbed the necklace.

Liam threw open the door, not caring that it hit the cabs' door and sped around the cab, darted through the unusually thin crowd and into the store, ignoring his mother's protests.

Sarah almost died from a heart attack. She never knew her son to be impulsive before, he was always shy and quiet. Sarah slammed the petal and watched as her day got worse.

"Wrong petal Sarah." she said as she slowly moved her head away from the steering wheel. Her eyes blinked a couple of times, trying to focus on the Indian man who hopped out of the cab and proceeded to cuss her out in his native tongue as his bald head turned red.

Sarah quickly got out of her car and checked her surroundings, remembering that her son dashed into the antique store. The Indian man come up to her and started yelling something to her, but she didn't care.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I have to get my son." She said in a rush as she towered over the tiny Indian. The man continued to jabber in his native language at Sarah, his face turning purple. She briefly wondered if he had stopped for air. She rolled her eyes and, ignoring the other cab driver who was fighting to get out of his cab and yell at her, she hopped into her car and sped into the open space that the wreck caused, honked her horn at the people standing around and drove up on the sidewalk.

She immediately hopped out of her car, swiftly unbuckled her son, lifted him in her arms, closed and locked the doors and ran past the two angry red cab drivers on her way to the antique store and _gently _kicked the store door open, the door cracked.

Sarah called Liam's name as she looked around the surprisingly vast and cluttered store. She turned her head to the left to see him at the cash register arguing with a man.

"Liam." she said in a relieved whisper as she walked up to him and quickly grabbed his hand.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked as she looked down at him, he was nearly as tall as she was. 'Definitely getting his father's height.' she thought as she watched him stutter. The man that he was arguing with stepped up to Sarah and asked, "Are you his mother?"

Sarah nodded and looked up at him in confusion.

"This young man," the man started as he patted Liam's shoulder, "Was trying to convince me not to buy this necklace because it was… How'd you put it…? Ah… cursed." the man smirked. Sarah felt like tearing his face apart at that smirk. It reminded her of someone that she was determined not to think of. 'Bastard.' she thought as she looked at Liam with the questioning gaze. Liam bowed his head.

"Why?" she asked as she shifted Stellan to her left arm.

"Because, I… I thought you might like it for your birthday." Liam said quietly as he shuffled his feet, he gazed up at her through his bangs and saw her sigh.

"Oh sweetie." Sarah bent down in front of him, causing her to look up at him. "Thank you, I appreciate the thought, but… you can't run out in the middle of the street and argue with a man who's already paying for it." she finished.

"I'm sorry," he said as shame washed over him.

"I know." Sarah said as she stood up and rubbed his back comfortingly. She looked up to see five people looking at her with an angry glint in their eyes: The two cab drivers, the shop owner and two police officers.

"I think the young man is right, it is cursed," the man said as he placed the necklace on a nearby table and walked over to the door. "Very cursed." he said and opened the door, jumping back as the glass fractured even more and shattered onto his feet. He looked back, and with a sincere look of pity said, "Good luck."

--

Ah ha! There, what do you think of it? Is it good, bad, in between? What adjustments do you think the story can benefit from? Even the slightest adjustment, though it may sound silly to point it out, would greatly be appreciated. Is Sarah in character? Do these children seem to belong to Sarah? Are you intrigued? Tell me.

For those of you who are reading my other Labyrinth story, The Man Who Sold the World, please forgive me. TMWSTW is currently undergoing major revisions on the last two chapters and a new chapter. Due to the heat wave, I'm not able to work on it as much as I would like because my own computer is a bit screwy any way and I don't want to be in the middle of an excellent edit or paragraph for the new chapter and it suddenly crash on me, (which it's known to do from time to time, especially in trying conditions.). The reason that this is up and edited is because it didn't take me an hour or two to write and edit it. The revision came to me fairly quickly and I knew what I had to change. So please forgive me and my lack of a decent air conditioner. I hope I will have the edited chapters and the new one up soon.

Also, even though I've had this done for a while now, I was waiting until I had TMWSTW fixed up so I could put both out at the same time, that way it wouldn't look as if I'm slouching on TMWSTW. But considering the circumstances, I thought it would only be fair if this came out now rather than later.

Now:

batteredchild: I hope the new prologue was a bit more clear for you and I hope you get a better idea of the whole situation. Though, maybe not... Dunno...

dawn1: Ahh, you are curious... good! And I know how you feel when you come across a story and don't know what to say to make a review more helpful. I understand completely, I've been there before. But thank you anyway, I appreciate your review all the more.

Calina Rhiannon: You forgot "yah mule!"... I'm joking. . I hope the edited prologue and the first chapter satisify you oh mighty Irish one. You're handle is Gaelic right?

Lady of the Labyrinth: You, who demand much of me, I say, FLAME AWAY! Don't ask where that came form, I just had to say it. Breakers? Uh... I didn't quite get that... maybe because I get the whole situation cause, of course, I wrote it, so it makes sense to me. I really do hope the new prologue makes better sense, and if it doesn't, I hope that this chapter will make it all crystal clear. But if it doesn't feel free to tell me.

Emily singing reflection: Ahh, but do you need to hear her speak in order to know that it is Sarah? ponders in the annoyingly wise quizzical way. And Eric/Matthew... you'll just have to wait, now won't you. Though I'm pretty sure you'll see him much more in the next chapter.

And Dawn1: THE MILK HAS BEEN FIXED! Thanks to especially to you for poitning that out!


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